hearts beat in sync
by Shadow's Liight
Summary: When Cody collapses in the middle of one of T.K.'s basketball matches, the DigiDestined learn that there is a possibility he may leave them forever. Can they figure out who or what is behind this before it's too late? Cody-centric.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everyone! I realised there wasn't any fics with Cody as the main character, which is a shame so here is one with him. This is set around five years after the Diaboromon movie. This is also written for the Valentine's to White Day Advent for Day 3: write for a character you've never written before._

* * *

 **Chapter One: A Place Where We Don't Belong**

"Go TK!" Cody could hear Kari screaming from besides him and he wanted to focus too. It was a bright sunny day, perfect weather for the basketball match that was going on currently. He wanted to be able to cheer his friend on but he felt so tired. He felt drained and exhausted. He hadn't slept too well last night. Something was intercepting his dreams, someone was calling out for him but he didn't understand who it was. It was constantly reaching out like someone was trying to claw through the depths of his mind and pull him away from well…the world. The thought was a scary one but that was how it had felt.

He tried to shake these thoughts away. He needed to be supportive of his friend and DNA partner right now. T.K. would be disappointed if he zoned out in the middle of his game. Or he might understand. Knowing how kind of a person he was, he probably would understand. In fact, maybe he should talk to T.K. and he would be able to help him out a little. He didn't even know why he was so dazed. Well, he did. He had not slept well at all last night. However, he forced his eyes to remain open until T.K. shot another goal. A small smile flitted his features, however then his vision really did blur. This was not a good time! T.K.'s team had not won the game yet. No, he had to...he had to focus. This was wrong.

"Yolei," was all he managed to murmur before the world went black.

* * *

T.K. was ecstatic when their team got another point. All his friends had come to cheer him on which was always a nice morale booster. However, he stopped in his tracks when he heard Yolei's ear-piercing shriek of "CODY!" ring into his ears. Yolei was usually loud, so it was hard to miss it, but this time, she also sounded panicked and worried. His heart thudded wildly in his chest and a sinking feeling entered his stomach.

The game hadn't finished yet. They were winning but hadn't won. However, T.K. couldn't focus on the game anymore. He spun around, his eyes widening as he saw Cody passed out in Yolei's arms. A surge of protectiveness raced through him. What was wrong with Cody? Had he been unwell? He was his DNA partner and friend, he should have noticed if there was something wrong with him.

"Oi T.K.!" One of his teammembers cried. "You're getting distracted!"

T.K. shook his head and stepped back. "I'm sorry...I..." He ran towards the bleachers to join his friends. He heard his team members calling out to him and whilst he didn't blame them, he really cared more about Cody right now. Cody always came first. He rushed over to his friends. "Guys, what happened?"

"We're not sure," Kari said, looking anxious. "He didn't seem all that focused since morning. But he wanted to come support you at the game, even though we told him to go home and rest. And now, all of us were so focused on cheering you on, none of us noticed how he was feeling."

T.K. frowned at that, kneeling next to Cody's side. The emergency paramedics as well as Joe were checking on him already.

"Joe?" T.K. said, trying to keep the panic out of his own voice.

Joe looked at T.K. "His heart rate is rapid at the moment."

The paramedics ushered the unconscious Cody into an ambulance, before one of them turned to the group.

"Which one of you want to go with Mr. Hida?" A female ambulance officer asked.

"T.K., you go," Kari said, before Yolei could volunteer. "You did leave your game after all."

T.K. was grateful for Kari's understanding about the situation and nodded to her. He wanted to go anyway but at the same time, he didn't know what to say to the others. He looked to his brother, Matt for a moment feeling quite at a loss. He didn't want to leave the others behind but at the same time, he wanted to go with Cody. It seemed as if he didn't need to say anything though.

Matt smiled. "Relax, T.K., we'll meet you at the hospital. Everything will be fine."

Yolei sniffled. "I'm sorry for not taking good care of him, T.K.! I ruined the game for you guys. You were so close to winning."

Kari reached over and squeezed Yolei's hand. "It's not your fault."

Davis nodded immediately. "Yeah! We should have all been watching Cody's back. He wasn't well since this mornin-ow! Ken! What was that for?" Ken had not-so-subtly whacked him over the head.

"Timing, Davis," Ken muttered, sounding exasperated. "T.K.'s worried enough already."

Davis looked sheepish. "Oops sorry TP."

Worried was a small word to put how he was feeling right now but it did sum up some of it. Guilt wracked through him. Cody had wanted to come support him at his game and because of that, he had passed out. Not to mention, he wasn't feeling well. So much for being a good friend.

 _How could I not notice? What kind of DNA partner am I? Why didn't Cody come to me? Was my match that important to him that he didn't want to distract me?_ Knowing Cody that was probably the reason, considering his younger friend was always very considerate of everyone but he wished the other wouldn't be at times. He had clearly needed help so he should have asked for it. _Or I should have sensed it, at least._

Their heart beats were in sync. They could hear each other's heartbeats. Not even he and Kari had ever been in that much sync. Yet when Cody really needed his best friend and DNA partner, he wasn't there. Pushing these thoughts back (after all, wallowing in self-pity wouldn't help), he focused on the situation at hand and managed a smile at his friends and brother.

"Don't worry about it," T.K. said quietly. "I'll meet you guys there then okay?"

Matt reached out, squeezing his shoulder. "We'll be right there with you as soon as we inform Cody's mother and grandpa as well."

T.K. frowned at that. "Don't tell his grandpa. He's already been so sick lately. Cody wouldn't want to worry him with this and until we know what's wrong, we shouldn't worry him."

Matt sighed a little. "Good point. Okay, we'll just inform his mother then."

T.K. smiled briefly at that, before running onto the ambulance and the doors to it closed. He sat besides Cody, his face falling into a frown. He reached to touch the other's hand and shivered a little as he realised how cold it was. "Cody...hang in there okay? We're going to bring you back. You can't quit on us okay? You're a fighter like the rest of us after all." He knew Cody couldn't hear him, probably might not even respond to what he was saying, but somehow he felt doing something was better than doing nothing.

His heart fell as he realised he couldn't hear Cody's heartbeat. It was like it was gone. There was nothing there. Just an empty void. The thought clutched at T.K.'s heart. Cody was just unconscious right? Then why had their connection disappeared? What was happening to his friend? Was this related to the digital world somehow? This had never happened before. Their connection had never faltered no matter the situation and he hated the fact that he didn't know anything about what was going on.

Once again, he felt like he was the little eight-year-old from the first adventure, the one who was the last one to be useful to the team. Now, even when he had grown stronger, he felt powerless. He didn't know what was wrong with Cody, only that it was more serious than they thought it was. Intuition told him there was more to this than Cody not feeling well.

* * *

Armadillomon lay, snoozing off or trying to as he watched the others with amusement.

"You two quit playing around!" Gatomon scolded Patamon and Veemon as they ran around, playing a game of tag with one another.

Suddenly, however the armadillo was snapped out of it, when a strange feeling ran through him.

"Guys?" Armadillomon said, alarmed causing the others to stop.

Patamon flew and sat on Armadillomon's head, looking down at him. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost! Well...you have seen a ghost before but you didn't look that freaked out at that time!"

Armadillomon shook his head. "Didn't you guys feel that?"

Veemon blinked. "Feel what? I didn't feel anything."

Gatomon frowned and walked to them. "Armadillomon, did you have a bad dream? You do look a bit shaken."

Wormmon crawled over as well. Hawkmon flew besides them.

Armadillomon didn't know how to explain what he had felt. For a moment, he had felt as if he weren't really there. Like he was disappearing somehow. Suddenly, the nauseous feeling hit him more, only this time in large force. He actually felt like his body was disintegrating into data.

"Armadillomon!" Patamon's alarmed voice cried.

Armadillomon blinked. Patamon was no longer in his head but a blurred image in front of him.

"Armadillomon!" Hawkmon called out.

He could hear all his friends crying out his name. He wanted to call back, to reach out but they all disappeared from sight and suddenly in another place. In contrast, to the lush green forest and soothing wind flying by, this place was the opposite. The wind was cold and the forest was purple. Not even black, but a dark purple.

In the sky, there was purple flashes of thunder, like those in a thunderstorm only there was no sound emitted from them.

The armadillo did wonder where on earth he was at the moment until he saw a figure standing there. At first, he didn't recognise who this was but as he moved closer, his eyes widened as he realised who it was.

"Cody!" he said, running over. What was his partner doing here?

Cody slowly turned towards him, his expression looking crestfallen. "Armadillomon...we're not supposed to exist here."


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay so this is a story I haven't updated in awhile but I felt like I should because I don't like neglecting stories and all. I want to thank_ **Zero Slash One** _for betareading this chapter and returning it to me in a timely fashion._

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Reaching Out**

T.K. paced outside the hospital room even as the others arrived because he was so anxious about the situation as a whole. Something really odd was going on, he could feel it within the depths of his heart. Kari reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"T.K., breathe," Kari assured her male best friend as gently as she could.

T.K. managed a weak smile before looking down at the floor. "Something isn't right. I can feel it. What happened to Cody...isn't a normal illness. I can't feel his heartbeat anymore."

Kari frowned a little, looking at Yolei who seemed puzzled by the thought as well. What could that mean? No matter what kind of injuries had occurred in the past, they had never lost their connection as DNA partners. She looked to the side as Davis and Ken joined them as well, having overheard.

"Should we ask Izzy about it?" Davis said worriedly. "T.K.?"

T.K. stayed silent for a moment, leaning against Matt when his brother came to stand besides him and was glad to have his support. "I...I want to try and reach out to Cody first. I want to see if I can get to him somehow."

Yolei bit her lower lip, unsure of what to say or do right now. "I hope you can, T.K., I just hope Cody will be okay..." She averted her gaze to the floor. If anything happened to Cody, she didn't know if she'd be able to forgive herself considering he was like family to her. Her girlfriend seemed to sense her distress and gave her a gentle hug.

"Yolei," Kari said gently, holding the older girl close to her. "I promise, Cody will be fine. We just have to work together and believe in him. Let's give T.K. a chance to reach out to Cody. I'm sure that will work."

The nurse came out then.

"One of you can go see the patient," The nurse told the group and Matt pulled away from T.K. "Although he hasn't been able to regain consciousness as of yet."

"You should go," he said to his brother.

T.K. nodded, although had to admit for once in his life he was scared, mainly due to the ride here. The fact that he couldn't feel Cody's heartbeat, the fact that his friend was so pale gave him them the shivers. However, he was supposed to be the Bearer of Hope, the one who found a ray of light in every little thing, so even though he found the situation strange, he would have to hope they found a way out of this no matter how tough the situation was.

* * *

As T.K. entered the room, he exhaled as he took in Cody's unconscious form. Even though by appearance, he seemed peaceful, it was obvious something was very wrong. He pulled a chair, sitting besides his friend and putting a hand on his.

"Cody," T.K. said quietly. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on?"

He knew the other couldn't answer but somehow even talking to him silently helped in some respect. Maybe if he kept talking, somehow Cody would be able to communicate or show some signs of what on earth was going on. If only Patamon were here...maybe he'd have some answers as to what in the Digiworld was going on?

"Cody," T.K. said softly again. "I don't understand most of this. We've had accidents before where we've needed to go to the hospital but this has never happened before. Our hearts beat together, Cody. So why can't I feel your heart beating with mine right now? What's changed? Where are you?" There was no movement from Cody at all and this caused T.K.'s eyes to well up with tears of frustration. "Dammit Cody please...tell me what's going on. Anything!"

It seemed as if his words did have some effect as Cody's hand moved and his fingers clasped around T.K.'s in a firm grip yet loose enough to break free from. Cody's hand seemed to tug at T.K.'s hand before letting it go. This didn't tell the Child of Hope much other than wherever Cody was, he needed their help and was something more he should be able to do though but what?

"Give it up," A dark, sultry voice whispered in his ear. TK tensed, eyes darting from side to side in search of the speaker. Seeing nobody, he stood up and looked up, balling his fist in expectation of the worst. Still, he didn't see anyone.

"Who's there?" T.K. demanded to know.

The voice that had spoken simply let out a laugh and before the Child of Hope could enquire further, he felt a sharp stabbing pain fill his body as if someone had ripped his entire body into two pieces. A shrill scream left his lips as he saw blotches of blood appear on his body and his vision blurred, before he fell to the ground, world going black.

* * *

Ken looked up alarmed from where they were all gathered when the scream resounded through the hospital. It didn't sound like a normal scream either. "What was that?" Before any of the others could reply, Davis hurried inside the hospital room not caring about the consequences. Ken quickly followed after his boyfriend, Matt, Yolei and Kari close behind him.

"T.K.!" Davis cried, eyes wide with shock as he saw the blond unconscious and wounded on the floor. Matt paled, freezing up as the younger DigiDestined surrounded his little brother. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

Kari clamped a hand over her mouth. "What...I don't understand what happened, how could someone attack him?"

Ken moved next to Davis, kneeling down besides T.K. and checking his pulse. "He's alive. The wound was carefully made, as to not kill him but get him out of the way." His expression darkened as he looked at his friends. "Whoever attacked him clearly doesn't want him reaching out to Cody."

Matt seemed to snap out of his shock to gape at Ken. "What are you talking about Ken? Who did this to T.K.?" His voice sounded a little harsh and angry but it wasn't directed at Ken.

Ken shifted. "I don't know that...I just know we have a problem." Matt's anger unnerved him a little so he was glad when Davis spoke up.

"Never mind that, we need to get T.K. medical aid," Davis said frowning in concern. "We can figure out who this enemy is later. Yolei."

Yolei nodded, quickly waving off a few nurses although none of them knew how to answer the nurse's questions so they simply said they didn't know which wasn't a completely lie even if it wasn't the whole truth.

* * *

Even though it wasn't easy to leave T.K. and Cody like this, unfortunately visiting hours were over so the gang gathered around The Kamiya family's living room, sitting in a circle, wondering what on earth was going on. Izzy had his laptop on the table so everyone could see and was typing furiously while Yolei leaned over his shoulder, deep in thought.

"Izzy, did you find anything or get a hold of Gennai?" Tai asked, breaking the silence considering no one else seemed to know how to right now.

"I'm trying," Izzy admitted. "But from my calculations, it doesn't appear Cody is in the Digital World. There's a possibility he may be in the Dark Ocean but I cannot be sure right now. But whoever attacked T.K. clearly doesn't want him or any of us interfering in his plans."

Matt clenched a fist. "That doesn't help us find out who it is, Izzy." He didn't mean to sound harsh or impatient but he was worried at what was going on. Tai placed a supportive hand on his shoulder whilst Sora took his hand, giving it a firm and reassuring squeeze. This did help calm him down somewhat and he shot an apologetic look at Izzy for snapping.

"Besides," Davis piped in before Matt's comment could be taken too seriously. "Are you saying Cody isn't actually in the Real World anymore? I mean he's here in the hospital and..."

"Physically he is," Izzy explained. "It's somewhat complicated but the reason T.K. could no longer feel Cody's heartbeat was because his heart isn't physically in the real world and only a shell of his body is here."

Davis looked blankly at Izzy. There were a lot of times he didn't understand the computer genius and this was one of those times. What language was he speaking? It sure as hell didn't feel like Japanese. At times like these, he turned to his boyfriend for a translation who chuckled at the look on his face.

"What Izzy means is that even though we can see Cody, he isn't really in the Real World," Ken explained as patiently and in as simple terminology as he could.

Davis finally got it and his eyes widened. "That's kind of freaky. Shouldn't we get a hold of the Digimon or something then?"

Izzy nodded in agreement. "That's exactly what I am doing as we speak. How many of us are able to go to the Digital World right now? I've sent Mimi an e-mail in America and am also coordinating a Digital Portal in America so her and Michael can come along if they wish. I'm not sure who this enemy is but one thing is for certain. They won't hold back so we need to remain cautious." He looked around at the others. The information on the enemy was definitely not enough to go off but they needed to do something before anyone else was hurt.

Tai immediately clenched a fist. "I'm going. Whoever this enemy is will pay for daring to hurt any of us."

Matt nodded as well. "I'm in too. I did have band practice but this is more important. Besides, no one attacks my family and gets away with it." His eyes had a stormy look to them and his face was tense with anger and worry.

Joe shifted, looking a little guilty now. "I'd love to go but I have a practical exam today that I really can't miss so I guess...I'll join you guys tomorrow?" He looked down, expression downcast even when Sora reached out, squeezing his hand in a supportive manner.

"Don't worry about it," Sora assured him gently. "We'll catch you up with everything and you can always join us tomorrow. Gomamon can wait a day or two."

Joe's expression cleared up and he managed a small smile. "Thank you, Sora."

Davis laughed a bit. "Of course I'm going! Ken and I can sic Imperialdramon on the freak, right man?" He looked to his boyfriend who simply rolled his eyes even if he was biting back a smile. Davis, himself was pretty annoyed that two of his friends had been targeted by this creep and he hadn't been able to do a thing to protect his team.

Kari shifted a bit, looking at Izzy as well before giving a small nod. "I'm in too but I'll also join you guys tomorrow. Someone should stay back here with T.K. and Yolei can keep me updated on what's going on in the Digital World." She looked at her girlfriend who gave her a smile before nodding to Izzy as well.

"Kari's right," Yolei immediately agreed. "Besides, her staying back could prove useful in case T.K. wakes up and tells her some information on the enemy that she can pass onto me and we can look into it."

Izzy nodded at both girls. "Well, I can't argue with that logic. Alright then everyone get ready to go. The digital world may not necessarily be the same place you remember."

Everyone nodded in firm agreement, holding up their digivices towards Izzy's laptop as he opened up a portal.


End file.
